Joseph Petracca

Joseph Petracca

Joseph Petracca (December 16, 1913 – September 28, 1963) was an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and television writer of Italian descent. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Petracca moved to Los Angeles after the end of World War II (during which time he worked as a machinist in the Brooklyn Navy Yard) and worked a series of full-time jobs, mainly as a steam press operator for a laundry and linen rental service, while he pursued his writing in the evenings and began raising a family with his wife Lena. In the early fifties Petracca began publishing fiction in the popular magazines of the day. Throughout the fifties Petracca wrote and collaborated on numerous films for such studios as 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures and in the sixties wrote episodes for such television shows as The Untouchables, Rawhide and Route 66 (TV series). Petracca is survived by a daughter, Frances Petracca, a neuroscientist and AIDS researcher, and a son, novelist and university Lecturer Michael Petracca.

Fiction

Petracca had early success as a writer of short stories for magazines such as Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. Many of his stories featured a fictional Italian-American family, the Espositos, loosely based upon Petracca’s own family. Narrated by one of the Esposito children, Joey, these stories centered on themes of poverty, cultural alienation, and the joyful resiliency of family. Petracca used this same fictional family as the centerpiece for his first novel, "Come Back to Sorrento", published by Little, Brown and Company in the United States, and Victor Gollancz in London, in 1953.

Film

One of Petracca’s short prose pieces, "Something For the Birds," [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045173/] - a proto-environmentalist comedy focusing on the plight of the California Condor - was purchased by 20th Century Fox studios in the same year as the release of "Come Back to Sorrento," and Petracca co-authored the screenplay with Alvin M. Josephy [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0430770/] . The film version of "Something for the Birds" was directed by Robert Wise. Petracca was subsequently hired by Fox studios as a contract writer and for the next several years wrote and collaborated on numerous screenplays, including Seven Cities of Gold [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048603/maindetails] (1955) and The Proud Ones [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049639/] (1956). Subsequent to his tenure at Fox, Petracca continued writing and collaborating on screenplays through the end of the fifties, with such titles as The Jayhawkers! (1959) and The Proud Rebel [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052097/] (1958), starring Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, Dean Jagger and John Carradine, and directed by Michael Curtiz.

In the sixties, Petracca turned mainly to writing for television, although he did collaborate with novelist and long-time friend John Fante on a motion picture, The Reluctant Saint (1962), based upon the story of 17th century Saint Joseph of Cupertino, who, according to legend, had the gift of levitation (paranormal). That film starred Maximilian Schell in the title role and was directed by Edward Dmytryk.

Television

Prior to his death from cancer in 1963, Petracca wrote or collaborated on such television projects as (1960), seven episodes of The Untouchables, (1959-1961), The Asphalt Jungle [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054517/] (1961), Route 66 (TV series), Sam Benedict [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055703/] (1962), Rawhide (1962-1963), and The Richard Boone Show (1963).

External links

*imdb name|id=0677744|name=Joseph Petracca
*imdb title|id=0056403|title=The Reluctant Saint


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Michael Petracca — is an American novelist who teaches research writing and creative nonfiction and has served as Acting Co Director of the Writing Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Petracca s two novels, Doctor Syntax and Captain Zzyzx,… …   Wikipedia

  • The Reluctant Saint — Infobox Film name = The Reluctant Saint caption = VHS cover for the film imdb id = 0056403 writer = John Fante Joseph Petracca starring = Maximilian Schell Ricardo Montalban Lea Padovani Akim Tamiroff Harold Goldblatt Arnoldo Foa Mark Damon… …   Wikipedia

  • It's a Big Country — Données clés Titre original It s a Big Country Réalisation Clarence Brown Don Hartman John Sturges Richard Thorpe Charles Vidor Don Weis William A. Wellman Scénario Edgar Brooke Ray Chordes Cl …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Frank Fenton (writer) — Infobox actor bgcolour = name = Frank E. Fenton imagesize = caption = birthname = Frank Edgington Fenton birthdate = February 13 1903 location = flagicon|England Liverpool, England deathdate = death date and age|1971|8|23|1903|3|12|mf=y… …   Wikipedia

  • Le Fier Rebelle — (The Proud Rebel) est un western américain réalisé par Michael Curtiz, sorti en 1958. Sommaire 1 Synopsis 2 Commentaire 3 Fiche technique 4 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Le Fier rebelle — (The Proud Rebel) est un film américain réalisé par Michael Curtiz en 1958, pour la Samuel Goldwyn Company. Sommaire 1 Synopsis 2 Commentaire 3 Fiche technique …   Wikipédia en Français

  • El rebelde orgulloso — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda The proud rebel Título El rebelde orgulloso Ficha técnica Dirección Michael Curtiz Producción Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. Guió …   Wikipedia Español

  • The Lineup (TV series) — Infobox Television show name = The Lineup caption = aka = genre = Police drama creator = writer = E. Jack Neuman Sidney Marshall Joseph Petracca director = William Asher Earl Bellamy Seymour Berns Thomas Carr Paul Henreid Hollingsworth Morse Don… …   Wikipedia

  • Guns of the Timberland — Infobox Film name = Guns of the Timberland image size = caption = Movie poster director = Robert D. Webb producer = Aaron Spelling Alan Ladd writer = Louis L Amour (novel) Screenplay Joseph Petracca narrator = starring = Alan Ladd Jeanne Crain… …   Wikipedia

  • Pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis — Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the myelin (a fatty substance which covers the axons of nerve cells, important for proper nerve conduction) degenerates. At least five characteristics are present in CNS tissues of MS patients:… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”